" so...how is this suppose to go again."
" we are attending the crowning ceremony for the prince if you remember, the reason he was came was because he need to complete tasks given to him in order to be crowned king it's incredibly thought for him to invite us as a show of closeness."
' I guess.' Rolling my eyes at her statement there was no real closeness between me and him
I started to sweat felling Elise's angry gaze upon me as that thought past my mind
" oh don't look at me like that when you always meet with him alone,how else am I suppose to feel sometimes. "
Scoffing she turned away shaking her head
" if you knew why then you would understand the importance of our meeting and if I could involve you i would...now come we are going to be there soon." Taking my hand she led me out of the bunks where we were staying with our daughter to the top deck
Accompanied by our daughter,the creaking of the wood and the odd Swaying of the ship luckily none of us got sea sick during the journey because of it
It took a couple minutes to navigate the hull it able to hold more space then it would appear from the outside but once we made it to the deck our eye widened at the sight provided despite us have been traveling on this ship for a week an a half now
The sight of aquatic life the shimmering sunlight streaking in from the surface left everything feeling more majestic, " if you look ahead you can see it coming into view."
His voice tore me away from watching the wildlife to where his finger was pointing, I had to wait a little before I say it completely my eyes weren't as good as races of this world but when I did my eyes widened
At the bottom of the ocean not to deep that it couldn't get sunlight but not shallow someone could get it easily from the surface a enormous metal structure sat with w equally enormous transparent dome made of some kind of energy
Elise's and Emily's eyes were just as wide when they saw it the scale was truly great
" how did you build such a thing." I asked my voice give away the impression seeing the capital has made.
" we did not our ancestors created long long ago we simply maintain it at this point, but we do a great job of it even though the knowledge has been lost over the eras the important bits weren't. "
This but confirmed my suspicions the dragon kingdom had similar kind metal structures but, when I asked the last king about he didn't know why they where there or who made it. this all but confirmed it to be something left behind by their ancestors, unfortunately it seems unlike the merman they took zero precautions to safeguard their knowledge for the future so nothing was passed down
' ill have to ask him about this at some point." Making a mental note for later I watched us get closer.
It took almost an hour for us to arrive outside the structure at this point the other ship escorting us changed route heading to a different area, while a small section of the metal opened up like a giant maw and swallowed our ship momentarily putting us all i darkness.
Still in the dark we felt the ship shake before stabilize, light returned as water was sucked away and a ramp extending from a open in a nearby wall connecting us to it
" welcome to onar I hope you enjoy your time in this wonderful place." With that he leading out of this chamber to the surface level
the ramp lead to the stairs which lead to a little room which had a rest area and an elevator that finally took us outside of the palace for the capital
" you can stay in the palace or somewhere in the city i would recommend that so you can do a bit of exploring, first however I will need you to meet the king my father."
I was a bit surprised to hear they would just let us roam freely but I guess it not like we force people to stay at our castle either and i guess they dont have to worry about me going on a rampage because of whatever they have in place that messes with my control of space, Aquinas had warned us before hand put it was still strange it was the same as it being forcefully removed, but like something had dominance over the space already
" we look forward to finally meet him."Elise spoke up pulling me back to the situation taking my hand as well followed the prince into the palace
The architecture was made of metal and stone a unique fusion for what ever purpose this place held in the past and present
Their weren't any carvings or murals marked into the walls or anything like that the only things that provided any form of decoration or things to draw ones eye were all brought into it
' why is everything so bland.' It was like any of the other palace we had been that were inherently made to be eye catching from the jump everything tied to the building was simplistic and to the point
The unusually large door we stopped in front of glided open with ease not making a sound revealing a grand audience chamber filled with members of the nobility and at the end sitting on a throne was who I presumed to be the king and Aquinas's father
" father!, i have returned from my travels with proof of my deeds so I may take the throne by rite of crowning." The prince brought out the device that had recorded our battle and had it display things he has accomplished, deals he has made, places he discovered, knowledge that he gained and fierce battles he has won or even lost at times
And through the whole playback the king watched his face not betraying any of his true emotions as we observed his child's accomplishments.
The crowd of nobles however had different reactions most gasped an awed others were stunned and a little confused at what they were witnessing
The chamber returned to its earlier quiet once the recording finished until the king spoke filling the silence " the council will review the feats you have presented and make a determination in a couple days for now rest."
This was when is gaze switched from his son to us " who are these people you have brought home."
" yes, may i Introduce the king and queen of dragon they have returned and I've been fostering a beneficial relationship with them the details are in the device." For a moment Elise and I saw unreadable emotions flicker in his gaze
" greetings your majesty." The three of us did our classic introduction to the king showing our respect
" i welcome you to the our city and our kingdom i hope you find it favorable." Turning from us he addressed the room
" for now this concludes this assembly until the decision of the council." The king got up and left from a open from the side that led to a set of stairs followed by a group of guards
The room burst into activity as people moved to leave or converse, before anyone could approach and trap us in a conversation we were left out of the chamber by the prince to a more secluded area
" that will be it for now until a decision is reached what will you guys do like I said you can stay here."
" we thank you really but I think it's best we stay in the city, we want to experience it and its people." Not trying to discourage us he pointed out some nice spots in the main city he recommended
after informing the gate guards about our identities he sent us on our own towards the main city saying he would find us when the decision had been reached
It was weird looking up as we walked not being able to see a clean picture of the sky along with being able to see the barrier protecting almost gave we me a feeling of being confined or trapped
" so what now we just wait until he gets us." Elise nodded intertwining our hands
" yep for now lets just treat it as a vacation just the three of us." She wasn't wrong for the most part so I went along with that might as well have a vacation for a couple days i know she could really use it
Moving through the city in search of a place to stay wasn't to difficult the place reminded me of a 1940s new York but less busy making it not to hard to move around
The magnetic rail system they had set up throughout the city help greatly with these aspects making travel very efficient so I did take long for us to find one of the place the prince had pointed out getting a room to stay in for our duration here